Vending machines of the kind described above are used for providing portion-packed food, e.g. at working places with shift working. Usually a micro-wave oven is used for heating of the articles of food which are provided by the vending machine. The articles of food may be stored in a frozen state within the vending machine, or they may be packaged in a heat stabilized state, according to a known method, so that they may be stored for a long time in room temperature without deterioration.
Regardless of the storing method, the articles of food in a meal normally are packed separately, so that e.g. meat, potatoes and vegetables are packed in three segregated units. It would be possible to store these three units together in one container, so that the purchaser by paying a fee, e.g. a token, directly can get a complete meal of a desired kind. However, the use of these containers complicate loading of the vending machine and results in increased costs. Further, there is demand for reduction of the time for the feeding out process.